Commissioner
Tom Johnson is a Commissioner at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
PUF: What do you do on a typical day?
Commissioner Johnson: There's a lot of reading and research that goes into what I do. There's a lot of looking over cases to find the proper answers to the questions that are before us. It's a good job. I feel honored to be a part of it.
It means looking out for individuals, especially residential, middle income, and the poor. It's a matter of looking at how we can get jobs into the area, and retain them by keeping rates down and utilities strong at the same time.
PUF: How do you decide things?
Commissioner Johnson: I think it's a lifeline in many ways to what you've done in the past, and the people you've come in contact with. Then looking at the future of how you think things are going to be. You look at how everybody and every business fit together.
There isn't exactly one way. We've got some great staff that we depend on. We have great advocates. There's a good bit of weighing issues back and forth and trying to come up with a good solution. I'm one of five commissioners. Talking to each other to come up with solutions is part of it.
PUF: How do you make use of your staff as resources?
Commissioner Johnson: They bring a lot of experience to the table. We weigh in to listen to their expertise and see how it fits in with my responsibility to pull it all together.